Dealing with non-ATSers

How do you guys deal with people who think you're a "crazy conspiracy theorist"? People who blindly follow whatever the government tells them, and thinks the government can do no wrong.

One of my friends (future roommate) and I got in an argument last night about all sorts of stuff. But the main thing was that he wouldn't listen to anything I had to say, and kept saying I'm crazy, I'm a silly conspiracy theorist like Fox Mulder. He wouldn't listen to anything I had to say, he just kept babbling on and on about how everything the country does is right, we should never distrust or talk bad about the government, etc. What put me over the edge was when he said he felt it is ok for the government to "silence," as he put it, "people like you(me)." He thinks that it's bad to say anything against the government, and that the government has the right to do away with anyone who utilizes their freedom of speech in the way that we here at ATS do.

I feel bad for him, I really do. He's blindly following whatever the government tells him to follow. He thinks it's totally fine if our rights are taken away in order for our country to prevail. He thinks it would be good if we took over Mexico and Canada and even the world to ensure our dominance and power. He's an ignorant, blind, close-minded, "patriot." He calls me unpatriotic because I'm wary of the government. But I see it quite differently. I, like many of us here, am just wary of the path the government is taking and what could happen in the future.

My question is how do you guys deal with someone like this? Do you try to make them see the light, open their eyes? Or do you just let them babble on. It gets frustrating to be labeled a "crazy conspiracy theorist" time and time again, and I'm sure you guys all have dealt with the same thing. Do any of you have any advice or suggestions? Or maybe just discussion about people like my friend.

Originally posted by Faisca
How do you guys deal with people who think you're a "crazy conspiracy theorist"? People who blindly follow whatever the government tells them, and thinks the government can do no wrong.

Well, i seem to always get into heated debates with non conspiracy theorists and these people are so blind, they truely think the government is their friend. Now, i just don't bother with them, blind fools

Yeah ignoring is usually a good idea... But it's hard sometimes. You want to get thru to them.

I would think these types would need to be weaned off of their positions and not overwhelmed by the amount of info & disinfo that you find here.

I know myself that it took time for me to be able to read some of the things here without getting too emotional, if you know what I mean.

I stick mainly to the news and political threads and ignore some of the "out there" forums, but I generally see no harm in them.

Try to find something that interests the person and discuss these issues first and if the person is open to the discussion you can branch out a little at a time.

This might work, I think that "closed mindedness" is what triggers the "Fox Mulder" quotes, maybe they are afraid they might learn something that throws there sensibilities off kilter.

You do have to maintain a sense of balance when participating in alot of the threads here.

Enough rambling, hope this helps you out.....

Yeah I'm a big conspiracy theorist too,and alot of my friends while they believe in some conspiracy theories, like Roswell and JFK refuse to believe the other ones like Psi-Ops,shadow governments etc. And the thing that gets me is that, whatever I use for refernce before they read it they debunk it. My favorite moment is when one of them refered to ATS as "A bunch of nutcases and liberal traitors" Nothing that I grab from the site, even from ATSNN can change their minds, as soon as they see the link its automaticly bullcrap.

They are all so blind its scary One of them actually refuses to think metaphysically on issues and another is so pro-government its like he's brainwashed. I just like the debating with them. I like being known as the "Pyschotic Conspiracy Theorist".

Just remember they will be the slaves of some crazed NWO before you.

[edit on 7-22-2004 by JediMaster]

Yeah my friend is definitely one of those "brainwashed by the government" types. I'm not too sure I enjoy being labeled a crazy conspiracy theorist, but I guess I'll have to live with it. I tell him (and other people) time and time again that I really hope one day I don't end up having to laugh and say "I told you so." Because if what I believe comes to be true, I'll be the one laughing at them for not believing me.

I'm pretty new to this site and I don't think I would consider myself a conpiracy theorist. But, I like to read and find out as much information about a subject before I am able to form an opion. I do belive in ghosts and aliens (a whole lot of space for just us humans). I also belive that the goverment is not always doing the right thing.

When I talk to people who think I might be "nuts", I just tell them that, that is my opion, and they don't have to believe the same as me. Luckily, I get into some good debates with a guy at work who is really into religion and want to see the down fall of the New World Order. Sometimes it is tough to hear what other people think about the whole conspiracy stuff, but I just keep on going.

My brother works for a federal judge. When I told him about this site, he said, "You know the FBI looks at sites like that, and will probably come and find you." I told him, that I have done nothing wrong, by visiting this site.

Hmm...thats a tough question.

After my very close encounter last December my father told me "I would be careful who you say that around", and all I thought was "are you kidding me, I'm going to tell everyone I know and half of the people I dont"!

My family and friends are very accepting of different ideas, but they generally think Im the "craziest" of the lot! I know a lot of people that are "brainwashed by the govt." and I generally will debate with them on conspiracies, UFO's, etc. until I win the debate. Usually they will just end up saying "well, there's just not enough proof", and thats fine, as long as I get them to think about their beliefs a little closer!

*clears throat*
WestPoint23 to this thread immediately!!

Huh? Whaa?

Sanc'.

What the heck does Westpoint have to do with this. But hey my friends make fun of me all the time. The last time I criticized the goverment one of my friends told me to go live in Canada or the UK. And then he went on about how their goverments stink compared to ours. Its unbelievible how ignorant people can be. I deal with it by talking about stuff onlly ATS members can understand. Such as BTS, the hunt for the rings, ATSNN. It drives them crazy. Of course I know one guy whenever I critize Bush he calls my sources unrealible. And he's never seen ATS. But do what I do, talk about stuff they don't understand to drive them crazy.

People are criticising people for being "blind" as it were, but coudln't they equally say to all you consipracy theorists that yours ideas are just a load of rubbish. Can you see the hippocracy in what you are saying. While they might be supposidly "blind" to your theories, equally they could say that you want to believe in something so much that the arguement is not rational, and that you are "blind" to the theory being a load of rubbish.

I think 71LSPC attitude is the correct one to take, being open to ideas but in a critical way

I am a firm believer that most people cannot handle the truth. Some examples of why I believe this:

Aliens visiting earth
CIA involvement in JFK
Diebold involvement in throwing future elections
Govt involvement in 9/11

I don't intend to start a single discussion about any of those four things. In fact I won't respond. But, if people were to know the truth about these things and the if truth was different than what we know today, how would most react? Loss of trust in the government (one could argue whether there's any left) would run rampant. There would be revolts against local/state/federal governments. In short there could be complete failure of any system of government as people lose it.

Originally posted by Rock Hunter
People are criticising people for being "blind" as it were, but coudln't they equally say to all you consipracy theorists that yours ideas are just a load of rubbish. Can you see the hippocracy in what you are saying. While they might be supposidly "blind" to your theories, equally they could say that you want to believe in something so much that the arguement is not rational, and that you are "blind" to the theory being a load of rubbish.

Well seeing how I have no concrete and absolute proof to back up any conspiracy theory I may believe in, I don't consider myself to know the truth. And I don't consider people who call me crazy necessarily blind, I just think those who refuse to listen and deny all other possibilities are severely close minded and "blind" to anything other than what they hear from the news channels. I don't think I'm any better than anyone else, I just wish people would be open to my opinions and ideas, and not write me off as a conspiracy nut.

Originally posted by Rock Hunter
People are criticising people for being "blind" as it were, but coudln't they equally say to all you consipracy theorists that yours ideas are just a load of rubbish. Can you see the hippocracy in what you are saying. While they might be supposidly "blind" to your theories, equally they could say that you want to believe in something so much that the arguement is not rational, and that you are "blind" to the theory being a load of rubbish.

I think 71LSPC attitude is the correct one to take, being open to ideas but in a critical way

Your right. They can have opinions. Were not always right. But what I hate is people who call us crazy with out even listening to what we have to say. I think its stupid that they tell us were wrong because the goverment says something else. They don't have opinions, they simply believe what the goverment tells them.

Understand that everybody has the right to their opinions and beliefs...even though they may confuse the he** out of you.

If they must persist in calling you and conspiracey nut...and other such names...that is because they just don't see what you see...

but you can't convince anyone of anything...they have to "see" it for themselves...so all you can do is ignore their comments and let them know what you know...and hope that someday they see the light at the end of the tunnel.

~oracle

I really respect that last few posts, yes I think you have the right attitude to not believe everything you are told, I only responded to the initial comment which seemed to be a bit ignorant in its arguements. As long as all you guys can luck at the flip side then thats all that matters.

I usually bring up conspiracy topics with friends in a joking manner. Some people are not gonna be receptive to certain things so you just talk to them about different things. But the friends I think might actually be receptive I would say something like this:

"Haha, guess what! there are these crazy people that think Aliens might live underground"

and they would say

"Oh yea, the aliens do live underground"

and I would say

"Um.. oh..."

Well conversations kinda go like that... depends on the topic

just and say yes your right i am crazy. then when the government really screws up say HA i told you so. or now who is crazy?

Originally posted by JacKatMtn
This might work, I think that "closed mindedness" is what triggers the "Fox Mulder" quotes, maybe they are afraid they might learn something that throws there sensibilities off kilter.

I've dealt with many women going through abuse and infidelity issues. You would not believe how many went so far as to secretly tape their hubands in the car with another woman, or had print outs of keyloggers showing what hubby was up to with who. Cell phone bills with incriminating numbers, and so on. What did these women do with the proof? Asked hubby. Who denied everything and called them psycho. Who then continued their affairs. What did the women do then?? Denied their own sanity and stayed with hubby.

Why? Because dealing with the truth would have meant unacceptable changes to their lives. Divorce, poverty, or even just explaining to friends & family.

Many many average folk (Walmartians I call them) don't have what it takes to look truth in the eye and cope with it. Not when you can go with the flow, eat your burgers, watch TV and go on living a "normal" life.

--Saerlaith

yo- im in the marines and think about how i gotta deal with this sorta converstaion. its the worst. it really is hard for me sometimes to be a conspiracy theorist in the marine corps. and more than i get mad when people cannot hear what im saying i get sad for them. because when the nwo takes over there going to be the first minions. people dont belive for many diffrent reasons. mainly like someone posted earlier i think though because if they found out they cannot even rely on there government for trust and good faith that who can they? from jfk to pearl harbor to 911 what what would happen if one president just said time to stop lying to america and let the cat out of the bag? not only would he be found dead... but society in america as we know it will collapse. its good there are people who arent like us, they keep us out of a constant state of civil war we need em too guys dont be too hard on them....
peace yall god bless
BIGNEUM